As prostitutes are arrested in New York, a flashback unfolds the life of one of them: Xaviera Hollander Lynn Redgrave, a Dutch secretary who moved to New York in the hope of marrying her fiancé Carl Gordon Nicholas Pryor, a man she met while visiting her sister in South Africa.
The budding romance soon sours as Xaviera watches Carl’s hesitation to help her with even small tasks—like unloading her bags from the airplane—and his meticulous morning routine and vanity. Her worry grows when his mother insults her during a dinner, and she confronts Carl with a stark choice between his mother and herself. He chooses his mother, Mrs. Gordon Elizabeth Wilson, sealing the first major fracture in their plans.
Seeking stability, Xaviera takes a job at the Dutch Embassy as a translator and secretary. There, she catches the eye of Yves [Jean-Pierre Aumont], a Frenchman with a taste for luxury who has earned a fortune as a consultant for big corporations and even some smaller nations. Yves invites her into a glamorous, high-rolling world, and for a time she is swept up in his lifestyle. When Yves must depart—summoned by the king of a Middle Eastern country—he leaves behind a large envelope of cash. The gesture shocks Xaviera, yet she quickly sees a possible future where money and sex can be intertwined to shape her own destiny.
What follows is a rapid ascent. Xaviera begins meeting Yves’ acquaintances, translating the charm of a cosmopolitan life into a burgeoning enterprise. She discovers a knack for navigating the city’s appetite and the rough edges of the business, and soon she becomes more than just a passenger in this world—she starts to lead it. Yet danger lurks: a corrupt police officer [Richard Lynch] tries to shake her down, taking money and attempting to coerce her. Rather than paying him off, she chooses to break away from the fear and seeks a different path.
Her path leads to a bordello run by a sharp, shrewd madam [Anita Morris], who offers Xaviera a fifty-fifty split to join the operation. But Xaviera is not content to simply work within someone else’s system; she sees an opportunity to build something of her own. She leaves to open her own bordello just ten blocks away, quickly becoming the city’s most successful madam and even buying out her former employer when the time is right. The rise—the blend of business acumen and personal daring—defines her ascent in a world where money and sex intertwine more than ever before.
All appears to be well until the same corrupt cop [Richard Lynch] who resurfaced earlier spots her again and instigates a raid, landing Xaviera in jail. Her attorney soon intercedes, bailing her out and arranging a connection with a friend from Montreal, setting the stage for whatever comes next in this daring, controversial life.
